Choices

I have started to work at a Christian school as a First Grade teacher and I am learning about choices. We tell the kids all the time that they need to make good choices and I always thought it sounded kind of harsh and religious because it is not always that easy. There are so many circumstances playing in. But today as I was meditating on this I realized that it does not mean that we need to be strong and fix everything ourselves and do everything right but we always have the choice to lean into God and His help or we can choose to hold on to our own pride and our own ways. I always have the choice! But I might have an ungodly belief that tells me that I am a helpless victim and cannot do anything about certain things. There might be addictions, emotions, circumstances I cannot control. But there is always a choice! I am actually TREMENDOUSLY POWERFUL WITHIN because the Holy Spirit lives inside of me. The same power that raised Jesus from the death is in work within me. It is pretty powerful thing to be raised from the dead but it does not stop at that in this passage (Ephesians 1:19-21). It goes on in the following verses and tells us that this power within us is the same power that

...seated Christ at God's right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything...

Now that is pretty powerful!!! Am I still seeing myself as a helpless victim? Am I still buying in to lies like "I cannot help it" or "He drives me crazy". The truth is that no one can drive me crazy or make me do anything. No one in this world can have that kind of power over me. Not if I get to know and believe in that mighty strength that God has put within me.